A Day at the Museum!

Gan Gimmel had the best time today on their field trip! We went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The children were so excited to see the  real paintings and actual works of art by the Master artists that we learned about in class. This was the culmination of our year long study of famous artists.  We saw works by Van Gogh, Monet, Seurat, Rembrant, Picasso and many many others. The children were given special handouts that directed them to locate certain paintings. They were so excited and engaged the entire time! 

Our fabulous day ended with a yummy lunch time picnic in Central Park. The children created such a kiddush Hashem wherever they went. They followed the rules of the museum by speaking softly and walking nicely as a class. A security guard even gave us a nice compliment! Bystanders were amazed that children who looked so small could know so much about art.  Special thanks to J.Z.'s grandma, Tamar's mommy, Ruthie's mommy and Liana's mommy who joined us as chaperones. What a great day! 

Our Trip to the Newark Museum

Last week the Ganon classes boarded a big yellow school bus and headed for the Newark Museum!  After we enjoyed our bagged lunches, we began to explore the museum.  We visited the Hall of Science where we saw fossils, a cave with stalactites and stalagmites, and dioramas of different animals.  The children especially enjoyed our visit to the planetarium where they viewed an age-appropriate show about the planets and constellations, and the Fire Museum where they had a chance to climb onto a real fire engine!  It was difficult for them to decide what their favorite part of the trip was - It was all so much fun!!

Chanukah Oh Chanukah

Gan Bet brought some Chanukah cheer to the Rockleigh Nursing Home. The children had been practicing many new and familiar Chanukah songs with our music teacher, Morah Roberta. Morah Roberta accompanied us on this trip, and led the children in songs such as Ner Li ,I Have a Little Dreidel, Surah Bachoshech, and Chanukah, Oh Chanukah. The children danced and spun like dizzy dreidels! The seniors in the home joined in and clapped, sang and hummed the wonderful Chanukah tunes. At the conclusion of the singing, Gan Bet presented the Home with a Chanukah Sameach poster, signed in Hebrew by each of the children. We also presented them with a chanukiyah that we had made in class. Before we left, the children signed Chanukah Sameachin in sign langauage! A fun time was had by all! Chag Urim Sameach!

Fun Day at the Newark Museum

We had a great time at the Newark Museum on Wednesday! After a fun bus ride, we landed at the planetarium where the children learned about constellations and the night sky. We enjoyed an early lunch and then began exploring the museum. The children saw some old fire engines and firefighting equipment from the 1800's in the Fire Museum. We then went to the hands-on money exhibit, saw some mummies and pyramids in the Egyptian gallery, and some Native American costumes and pottery. Our favorite section was the Hall of Science where we saw florescent rocks, cave animals, dinosaur bones, and real fossils! A fun time was had by all!

Please click on the link below to enjoy our trip.
Our Trip To The Newark Museum

Happy Birthday Israel!!

We sang happy birthday to Israel in our classroom on Tuesday and blew out the candles on the delicious blue and white cake which we decorated in the form of an Israeli flag with the number 63! We then went outdoors and danced in the fields along with the entire school to the music of BaRock Orchestra. Afterwards, we watched a special Daglanut performance by the 7th grade girls, and sang Hatikva and other songs together.
We then returned to the early childhood wing for our simulated flight to Israel. We boarded the El Al airplane along with the other classes. Rabbi Penn piloted our plane, and after a smooth landing in Israel we began to visit the different cities. Each early childhood classroom was transformed into a different city or place in Israel. The children danced in Tel Aviv, played in the sand in Eilat, hiked in Ein Gedi, ate in the shuk, made jewelry in Tzvat, and visited the Kotel in Yerushalayim. We also enjoyed a fun and delicious barbeque outdoors.
All in all, it was a fun-filled (and thoroughly exhausting!) day of touring, creating, exploring, and learning all about our Jewish homeland.

Our trip to The Zoo

Before going on our trip to Turtle Back Zoo, the children explored the differences between wild animals and domestic animals. We learned that wild animals take care of themselves. They find their own water, food and places to live. Domestic animals are taken care of by people. They don’t have need to look for food, water or homes. We made lists of animals that are wild and those that are domestic. We discovered that some animals can be both, such as: horses, turtles, snakes, fish, hermit crabs and birds. We then took our plastic animals out of the bin and grouped them using a Venn diagram (wild, domestic, & some animals who can be both).